Disasters of Babylon Written on Scrolls

Here is a reminder of God’s dominion over all the nations of earth. This is the prophesy of the ultimate and final fall of Babylon in judgment, condemning her for the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple. A written copy of this prophesy spoken was to be tied to a stone and cast in the Euphrates River to symbolize that Babylon will sink, to rise no more. The symbolic action would be repeated in John's vision of the Babylon of the Apocalypse (Revelation 18:20-21). As we proclaim, “He will come again to judge the living and the dead.”

STUDY THE SCRIPTURE

Click here to access the reading from Jeremiah 51:59-64

For more help use this Bible Study method

REFLECTION

Disasters of Babylon Written on Scrolls

By Jeff Morlock

With these last and final words, Jeremiah hands the prophetic baton to a guy called Seraiah, whose name means, “Yahweh has prevailed.” Imagine if Christian parents today named their child, “Jesus Won!” Every time they would call him for dinner, or his teacher would say his name in class, or his friends would yell to him across the playground, it would be a testimony to anyone with ears to hear. Jesus Won! Won and done. Seraiah (with the cool name) picked up where Jeremiah left off, announcing God's ultimate victory over anyone or anything opposed to him and his kingdom. 

Seraiah carried Jeremiah's scroll to Babylon and declared it's message of obliteration to the people there. Then he tossed the papyrus into the Euphrates River, which was the basis of Babylon’s economy, and the thing they looked to for prosperity and security. Babylon's haughtiness and confidence in what she considered to be her absolute, untouchable power became a symbol of all evil forces that, to their destruction, would dare oppose the Lord. Revelation 18, written long after Jeremiah’s Babylon had been destroyed, describes the fall of another proud and wealthy Babylon at the end of the age.

Earlier this month, on All Saints Sunday, we had a roll call of sorts as we remembered believers the names of saints who have gone on to be with the Lord - believers who are not worried about what the future holds. Quite the opposite. But now they have passed the prophetic baton to ordinary believers like you and me, so that in these days of uncertainty, we  modern day Seraiahs may boldly testify that  “Jesus Won!”. This is the unshakable word of truth that calms every storm and declares God’s victory over every enemy.

Prayer:
God, we praise you because your kingdom is sure and your promises are unshakable. Keep us in true faith and empower us to proclaim in word and deed the resurrection triumph of Jesus, which this passage foreshadows.

 

UALC’S CAMPAIGN OF PRAYER - FRIDAY

FAITH - Pray for faith instead of fear, that many would come to faith in Jesus and that we would all trust God more deeply during this time.